To the Editor:
In May of this year in New York City armed robbers herded six men and one woman into the walk-in refrigerator of a Wendy's restaurant, bound and gagged them, and shot each one in the head. Five of these people died and two were gravely injured. Under New York law had any of the restaurant employees or customers been armed they would have been considered as guilty as the murderers.
In Anniston, Ala., two armed robbers took over a Shoney's restaurant. This case differs from the first in that a patron of the restaurant, Thomas Terry, was legally armed. Contrary to what Carol Achterhof would have you believe, he was not carrying a firearm for any of the frivolous reasons as stated in her Star Herald Aug. 24th column, but for self-protection as is his Second Amendment right.
Alabama's state constitution proclaims "that every citizen has the right to bear arms in defense of himself and the state." And Mr. Terry did that and more. He also saved the lives of nearly two dozen other customers, even at great risk to his own life. Mr. Terry shot one robber dead and severely wounded the other. None of the patrons were injured except Mr. Terry himself, who was grazed in the hip by a bullet from one of the robbers.
Those who would ban firearms seek comfort in the vain hope that if we pass laws to get rid of guns, such horrors will cease. Against all experience, against all that common sense tells us about the protective value of guns, the gun banners will continue to babble on.
Let me close with the words of Robert E. Lee instead of the words of Johnny Carson. "Gun control laws increase the power of government and the criminal element over the average citizen and serve no other purpose."
Ed Lynch
Luverne